For fashion purposes, there has been a desire to have lipstick containers of elegant, slender, elongated lines. To achieve this shape, the container structure has been greatly modified so that the driving mechanism (cam, innerbody, etc.) normally surrounding the pomade cup and adding to the diameter of the container is located entirely under the pomade cup. Examples of such rearrangement are disclosed in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,770,556 issued Sep. 13, 1988 to Ackermann et al and 5,172,993 issued Dec. 22, 1992 also to Ackermann et al. These "slimline" containers have often comprised a floating sleeve threaded and engaged by threads or lugs in both the base and on the cup stem. Such containers have been filled from the top, usually by loading into the cup a pre-formed pomade "bullet".
Over the past few years the nature of the pomade used in lipstick has changed. Rather than being essentially wax cylinders, lipstick pomades are now composed largely of volatile silicone compositions. The change in composition has been caused by the fashion-driven demand for a high-lustre lipstick analogous to a paint which, when applied, gives a "wet look". The downside of such pomade compositions is that when they are exposed to the air, they will rapidly dry out so that they become, in effect, a hard, solid, non-fluid substance which cannot be applied to the skin. In addition, as such pomades dry out, they shrink in size and, being slippery, can actually fall out of the elevator cup of their containers.
The present invention discloses a simplified "slimline" structure which has two important attributes: it can be rapidly filled by being molded directly in the container, so that the pomade is more securely anchored in the elevator cup. Secondly, the container can be conveniently sealed to prevent air from freely contacting the silicone-containing pomade.